The Beginning Of Our Path (ON HIATUS)

Chapter 10: Broken Heart

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Noelle POV

"Practice fight, of course." Asta said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

You want me to fight you?

There's no way I can beat you!

Ah!

"Bakasta, you dare even think you can win? Try me." Noelle had no idea why these words were spilling out of her mouth, singing like hot lava. She honestly wanted them to stop. Instead, Asta led her to a grassy clearing, the forest surrounding them and darkening as the blue sky began to warm to red and yellow.

"Confident people do have a better chance of winning! But I'm not giving up!" Asta unsheathed (unbooked, whatever you want to call it) his double blades, on his left, the demon slayer sword. Somehow, with Asta's brutal strength he had, he managed to balance the two swords with completely different weight. The demon-destroyer was on his right, most likely for more versatile uses.

"YES! LET'S GO!" Asta screamed, waving his swords wildly in the air. Noelle would have laughed if her ears weren't bleeding.

Asta charged toward her, and she let out an 'eep' before dodging to the side. The short boy hit with the flat of his sword, this was practice. Quickly, Noelle stepped to the side, tripping a small bit before calling out;

"Sea Dragon's Roar!" Only to stall for time as she activated her Valkyrie Armour, waiting to strike. Asta yelled in protest, trying to block the powerful spell with his crossed blades. Eventually, he managed to slice through the water, before seeing Noelle in her water form.

"Gotta balance the scales again," he muttered before letting black creep up his arm, and one of his green eyes be swallowed by blood red. One black misty wing sprouted from his back, and the stupid boy gave Noelle another lopsided grin before charging. She skidded out of the way, only for Asta to turn around and hit Noelle's left arm with the flat of the larger sword, with so much force, she flew across the grassy clearing and slammed against a large tree. Groaning she got up again and shot back toward the clueless boy, striking him with her watery lance.

Asta stumbled backward, his grip on the swords loosening. Noelle took this as an advantage, using her lance to knock both swords out of his hand, and before the ash-blonde boy could retrieve them, she gracefully dipped back before calling out:

"Sea Dragon's Roar!" Successfully hitting Asta in the stomach, he was blown away, the force of the impact basting him back several yards until he rammed into a tree. As he landed, he murmured-

"Match is over-" Noelle smiled and pumped her fist in the air, jumping a little. Blinking, she quickly regained her royal composure and cleared her throat.

"Of course I won," She couldn't loose against a peasant! Noelle walked up to Asta and offered him a hand. Gratefully, he took it and pulled himself up, grinning.

"That was great training, we could do that every day, if you wanted to wake up at 4-" Noelle quickly dismissed him with a 'no thanks'. She had plenty of other things to do, like get her beauty rest instead of waking up at four in the morning every day.

That night, after she had finished eating dinner, Noelle excused herself to go up to her bedroom. Noelle sat on her bed, taking in the quiet aura, completely locked away from the rest of the noisy bulls. The soft pale blue light gently seeping through the window, moonlight.

What was wrong with her?

Noelle recalled the events of the day, her warm cheeks as a specific idiot held her hand, or the feeling of shyness from piggybacking Asta. She squealed into her pillow, her face seeming to remember the pink color it had once been, and reverting back to it. Turning around to look at the wooden ceiling, the pale haired teen contemplated her feelings.

Do I love him?

Noelle thought of his lopsided smile, his courageous green eyes, his willingness and bravery. When he protected the village rather than himself, or when the anti-magic user had stood up to her siblings, or encouraged her to keep trying to do one spell right.

No, she could no longer live without him. So she did love him. Noelle got out of her bed and walked to her wooden dresser with a circular mirror above it. Noelle stared at her pathetic reflection. She took out her pigtails and let her hair loose. The young Silva opened her drawers and took out a brush and combed out her silver hair. She was a Silva.

Should I love him?

It was probably disgraceful to the Silva family to love a commoner. But, at this point who really cared? She had already supposedly put dirt to the Silva name, why was this any worse? Her siblings. Nozel, Nebra, Solid. They would only spit on her more if she did this. Again, though, Noelle didn't seem to want to give up Asta just because of her fear of them.

Can I love him?

Even if she had acknowledged her feelings and shoved her family matters aside, did Asta even love her back? He was an amazing person, who was strong hearted and loving. So many other people probably loved him. And besides, why would he like a failure, bratty, weak, and horrible person like her? Tears streaked her face as she reached for what she wanted, only to grasp air, knowing she could never take what she wanted.

 The world was harsh, and so was love, Noelle realized that day when she cried herself to sleep.

Published: Feb 10, 2021